Recent studies suggest that trust in an organization and its management (“organizational trust”) is a highly valued determinant of job satisfaction. The satisfaction derived from a relatively small increase in organizational trust is similar to the satisfaction derived from receiving a significant pay increase for employees. Conversely, if a similar amount of trust is lost, the decline in employee job satisfaction may resemble taking a comparable pay cut. Organizational sociology studies further suggest empowering members to contribute in more meaningful ways may stimulate innovation.
Organizational trust is a multi-faceted concept, however. Organizations are based on hierarchical structures of various types. Trust levels within an organization depend on relationships and interactions between individuals of different hierarchical levels and/or same hierarchical levels. Thus, improvement of trust within an organization, or in other words autonomy and empowerment of the members, relies on improving interactions, influencing positive behaviors, and discouraging negative behaviors in concrete ways, which in turn may lead to increased levels of innovation and member happiness.